Road construction



' Aug. 27, 1.935.

H. A. INGALLS ROAD CONSTRUCTION Filed March 15,5, -1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1HENRY /l. /NeAL L5 )hd-MM, @um ,-'tzlA ATT RNEYs.

Patented Aug. l '27, 1935 ROAD CONSTRUCTION Henry vA. Ingalls,Bakerseld, alif.

Applicatignfmrcn 13, 1933, serial No. 660,595

6 Claims. (01.34-23) li/ Iyl invention relates .toroad or pavingconstruction. I have discovered I'that soil may be; very readily treatedat its place of origin anid1 converted into a condition where it maybereadily made into a smooth, strong, durable and ineipen'- sive roadsurface when properly combinedwith other 'comparativelyf inexpensiveconstituents, such, for instance, as water and viscousgfluids, such ascrude oil. I of course do not claiinfbroadly w the method ofVconstructing roadsg'by"v the mere use of crudeoil'and "soil, but Iddjvclaim, among other novel features, to be hereinafter set forth,

to have discovered that by 1nfsl''treating the soil to reduce. same to aloose,""nely divided mass,v then impregnating same'hder prQperconditions with a suicient quantity of water;'I amable to so conditionor prime same, that when crude oil is incorporated therewith the oilwill be effectively incorporated in/thewsoil in a manner that will causemaximun'benefit to be derived from use thereof .aiftr'the road has beenfully constructed. fl.t

My invention therefore has fono'ne of its objects the treatment of thesoilto first render same sufficiently moist that after oil is initiallyincorporated therewith at thelsitus of the soil, the. oil may thereafterbe distributed to positions in the mass where `it will function tosecurely bondY together the particles of soil and produce at the upperstratum of the soil, and the immediate vicinity thereof, a very smooth,strong and durable traffic surface lwhichwill be"'far less porous thanwas possible"'heretofore with prior methods. yIam further able toutilize much smaller quantities of oil, and at the same 'time produce anished product which will not dry 'out or disintegrate prematurely, andone which willb'etter resist the effect of the elements andsatisfactorily withstandthe effect of heavy loads o imposed thereon.

" A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a novelmethod of constructing roadsN wherein provision Vis made for the workbeing'carried on continuously. A still further object offthe inventionis to provide a method of constructing roads wherein thek crude oilwhichI cause to be deposited at prede termined lpositions therein willbe promptly sub-y jected to the action 'of steam or a blast of heatedair so that the oil will be atomized'thereby and forcedin'an upwarddirection through lthe loose particles of soil, whereby to cause thesaidI particles of soil to be thoroughly'saturated with oil.

" .i A still further object of' 'the linvention isto provide a' methodof the"character set vforthv wherein precalculated or definitely'controlled' portions of oil may be satisfactorilyused to effect properimpregnation of the loose particles of soil with the oil. i

` Another object offtle invention is to'provlde 5 in paving or roadconstruction a road surface having an inexpensive but strong and durableportion Whi'cljwlll'provide a lane'over which light trafficmay behandled andasimilarlycon-` structed, butf'somewhat modined portion`serving" 10' as a laneiforthe handling'of heavy trafc.

n ovefyirnportant objectof the inventior'i'is to' pro 'de a road, thebed-'of which will-be characterized in the manner aforestatedV inconjulic, tion with which said bed isemployed a novel slab 15 surface"which will` freely/ adapt itself to variations in temperature withoutresulting in injury tosaid surface. f' "5 Uff My invention isillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which 20 Figurejj'l is aview in transverse sectionl showing the Acondition oi` the"4premoistend"soil and the Yapplication theretoof crude foil, to effectstratification of the-oil preparatory to an application of a condensing.pressureto the4 mass; 254

Figure 2 is a viewfsimilar'to Figure 1, showing the mass fullycondensed'forfcompressed;

Figure 3 is a. viewinplan :of the road when provided with myiiinprovedslab construction;

Figure 4 ;aflongitudinal sectiontthrough a 30 accordance with oneembodimentof the inven- 151011;Lv L v. 'f

Figure 5 is a vertical section through the oil distributing means; 'Y

Figure 6 is a transverse section throughva portion'of a roadway showinga slightly modified form of the invention. y Y

Figure? is aplan view of the modified construction shown in Figure 6; iIn preparing thefsoil, Iflrst"` reduce same Vto a finely divided. statewhich may be subsequently condensed into, a substantially homogeneous idense mass when uniformly Lsubjected` to the-ac tion of suitableexternal condensing; pressures,v 45

preferably pressuresof a .progressively increasing nature, such as may'be brought about by an initial application of a light l.weight rollerthereto, followed by-similar uniform applications oi rollers ofgradually increasing weights. After the soil'ha's been turned and'madelight, all large foreign particles, stones land the like,are preferablyremoved therefrom so that no large voids will remain in the mass'throughwhich loil might yfind egress to the vsubsoily or tolevelsvor places`beyond the effective zone of the soil under'treatment.

I then again tumble and 'thoroughly agitate the soil, this time in thepresence of Water, so that the mass will be fairly moist. In Figure 1 ofthe accompanying drawings, I have illustrated as well as possible thecondition of the soil after same has been reduced to afinely dividedstate, saturated with water and supplied with crude oil; Best resultsmay be obtained by application of the oil s'o as to stratify same, so tospeak, relativelyto adjacent layers of moist soil.

I have previously indicated a desire to so apply the oil that it will bestratified in the mass of soil under treatment. I very nicely accomplishthis object by the use of the distributing -mechanism shown in Figure 5.This mechanism comprises a manifold A into which the crude oil may beconducted from any suitable source of supply (not shown) and then ledfrom the manifold through the pipe B into a valve chamber C. 'Ihevalve'chamber may be sub-divided into as many sections as are desired.and in each section is a rotary valve D, which'acts in conjunction withthe valve chamber to cause controlled or predetermined quantities of oilto be discharged from the chamber as .the .valve is rotated. The valveis therefore mounted upon a driven shaft E into which power can be takenin any suitable well known manner, whereby to revolve the valve,preferably at a comparatively slow speed. The said valve is divided intoa plurality of peripheral pockets F, each functioning to accommodate apredetermined measure of oil. For each section of the valve chamber Cis-employed a vertical distributor G, the upper end of which is offunnel formation and arranged with its large'end directly beneath thedischarge nipple H of the particular valve section of the cham- Aber Cwith which it is intended to coact. The

lower end of the vertical distributor is formed at its front end with asoil penetrating -blade or portion I and immediately at the rear of saidportion I the walls of the distributor are formed with an oil dischargeopening J, from which the oil may be discharged in a downward andrearward direction. At K is illustrated a blast tube, the same beingextended into' a funnel-like end of the distributor G, and, asillustrated, it is fonned with a vertical leg L which extends throughthe bore of said distributor. 'I'his leg L of the blast tube K ispreferably eccentrically positioned with relation to the annular wallsof the distributor so that a duct M is formed between said walls andsaid leg -for the free downward passage therethrough of the oil, as willbe appreciated. The lower end of the leg L is provided with a rearwardlyextending nozzle N, whose free extremity is preferably curved slightlyin an upward direction, as at O. 'I'he blast tube may be connected in asource of air supply, and it is desired that said tube be provided witha circulating coil P, w ch is adapted to be heated by a burner Q; It inthis manner that air under pressure, as it is being conducted to the legL. will be heated, whereby to enable the oil to freely ow through theduct M and to discharge from the orifice J. Now it follows -that whenthe heated airis discharged from the.4

curved end of the nozzle N, blasts of air will be made to impingeagainst the soil, so as to induce a suction at the rear of the orificeJ, and thereby accelerate the movement of the oil out of the orice,while producing an upward current of warm air which cifectuallyfunctions to atomize the oil and to force same in an upward directionthrough the loose particles of soil. It is in this manner that I providefor proper impreging in the use of oil is effected. Instead of dis- 4charging air into the blast tube K, steam may,

of course, be used as a substitute therefor.

After the oil has been applied to the premoistened soil, as aforestated,a road grader is passed thereover and the mass leveled; I then ap-.

ply condensing pressures to the mass over such period of time and by theuse of rollers or the like of progressively increasing weights and byplaning same until the mass has been densely packed and reduced to ahomogeneous condition. It is largely in this manner that I `provide forvery complete distribution of the oil through the entire mass of soil,without undue loss of oil. I am also able to confine' the oil to theeffective area formed by the mass under treatment. Due to the existenceof a moisture content in the soil, I am able to producea road, the topstratum of which is exceedingly smooth and Well sealed off by the oil,as the tendency of the moisture contained in the soil is to raise theoil to levels within the mass of soil, where full benefltwill be derivedtherefrom. Any inequalities in the surface are, of course, readily lledin by planing same during the early development' period, and, ifdesired, oil or water may be sprayed or otherwise applied to the surfaceto additionally seal off any and all pores contained therein and toallay dust.

A road constructed as aforementioned is more or less yieldable, and samefurnishes a uniform support for a cement or other suitable overlyinghard surface, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. Suitable forms, not shown,may be placed upon the finished. densely packed underlying bed i (Figure2) and cement poured therein so as to pro- 4duce wedge or substantiallywedge or key-stone shaped laterally movable slabs 2, and somewhatsimilar but considerably longer slabs 3, of approximately,100 footlengths. When the forms are removed Vfrom around thev respective slabsthus formed, grooves 5 are left between the complementing edges of theadjoining slabs, and these joints are then filled in with tar,asphaltum, pitch or othersuitable well known substance which is more orless elastic and impermeable to water. By means of these elastic joints,taken with the fact-that at least two faces of each of the slabs 2 and 3are flared, in opposite directions, as clearly shown in Figure 3v of thedrawings, it follows that effective expansion joints are formedtherebetween so that said hard surface will readily adapt itself tovariations in temperature without resulting in injury to said surface.

The method herein described is such that I am able to take advantage ofknown natural laws, in a desire to place an essential constituent,namely, crude oil or the like, in a condition of more or less stableequilibrium, so to speak, when associated with a liquid of differentdensity, such as water, whereby to conne the oil wholly within the bodyor mass of soil, which latter is employed as a base material in theconstruction of my improved road. In other words, I am able todefinitely superpose heterogeneous liquids (oil and water)l with respectto each tion or l-ane for accommodating heavy trafllc.

otherso that the oil will be held in suspension in said mass of soiluntil displaced inthe manner aforementioned. While I have described thatthe soil is first properly saturated with water and that, thereafter,the oil is applied by stratifying same with respect to layers of said`soil, I do not mean to infer that I, in fact, constantly maintainrelative supcrposed stratification of the oil in the mass of moist soil.It ismy opinion that the relative portions of oil and water employed actupon each other so that the whole body of oil will remain pretty muchsuspended until the soil has been properly subjected to the action ofthe necessary external pressures. During the operation of condensing themass of soil, the excess oil is displaced and same rises toward theupper stratum of the soil. It follows that, in

time, much of the water contained in the soil goes rmore expensive roadconstructions.l A road bed,

when constructed as herein described, affords a more or less uniformyieldable support for an expansible overlying hardl surface, such as Ihave described and particularly illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings.By perfectly sealing the joints between the aforestated slabs 2 and 3with asphaltum, tar, pitch or other suitable well known compounds, andflowing the joint material onto the upper stratum of the underlyingnbed,premature deterioration of the said bed by contact with surface water iseliminated.

The aforementioned slabs 2 and 3 are arranged in longitudinal rows alongthe road thus constructed and -each of said slabs may, of course, be'ofany suitable Width and of such thickness as may be required to rendersame perfectly strong and durable. Their arrangement with respect toeach other is such that they will readily respond to any and all forcesapplied thereto, as

`may be due to variation in temperature.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 6 and '7, a roadway very,similar to the one described in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive, is.

provided, but inthis form of the invention the roadway is of greaterwidth than the first said form, whereby to provide an intermediateportion formed for handling light traflic and a `por- VVhile I haveshown b ut one of said portions 5, it is to ,be understood that twothereof will be provided in practice, anddisposed at the respectivesides of the portion'l. In the said portion 5 I incorporate cement rails6 which are arranged in parallelism with each other. rails areconstructed of cement and each thereof includes mating longitudinalsections 1, whose ends are xnitered` at 8 to provide the expansion joint,9 therebetween. filled in with asphalt, p itch, tar or the like l0'.Each rail section 1 is of dove-tailed form .in cross section, as shownin vFigure 6, so as to provide downwardly and outwardly aring sides I'I,a nat upper surface l2 and a flat lower surface I3. These sections areembedded in the bodyof the pavement or roadway, as clearly shown inFigure 6 It is to be understood that these cement rails are to be'properly spaced apart so that the These.

These joints are thenV wheels of an automobile may roll thereoverand-that the upper surfaces of the rails are of ample width to accommodatethe tread surfaces of said wheels. I

I would have it understood that as many layers of oil may be injectedinto the soil as may be found desirable or necessary according lto thethickness of the mass of oil under treatment. In a road structure thethickness of which is ,to be six inches, I have found in practice that asingle application of oil is suflicient when injected to a depth ofapproximately six inches from the upper surface. It has also been foundthat when the oil is distributed as aforementioned and the soilsubsequently subjected to the action of external pressures, sometimessurplus oil appears upon the surface. When this condition presentsitself, it is only necessary to spread over the surface containing saidsurplus oil suihcient quantity of suitable soil, preferably a soil whichaffords traction. A surprisingly small amount of oil may besatisfactorily used, and in the road constructed as aforementioned. thestructure was strong enough to sustain exceedingly heavy traiiicsuch asmotor trucks which are now otherwise ordinarily barred from thehighways.

I claim as my invention: l

1. The herein described steps in the method of constructing roadscomprising reducing soil at its situs to a nely divided state so that novoids of any appreciable'size are lleft therein; mixing heterogeneousliquids with the soil; vthen applying a condensing pressure to the soilto -densely pack same and to dispose the liquid of lighter density insuspension upon the liquid of heavierdensity so as to cause said liquidof lightbuilding of roads comprising reducing the soil to a finelydivided state, incorporating water in j the soil in a manner tothoroughly moisten substantially all particlesthereof; mixing astructural liquid with the soil, the density of which is less thanwater; then condensing the soil to effect i upward displacement of thesaid structural liquid and the water with the structuralliquid inflotation on the water and to cause same to become a homogeneous part ofthe soil at the upper stratum of the soil. A

3. The herein described method of utilizing soil at its situs as astructural material in the vbuilding of roads comprising reducing thesoil to a finely divided state; incorporating water in the soil in amanner to thoroughly moisten substantially all particles thereof; mixinga viscous structural liquid with the soil, lthe density of which is lessthan water; then condensing the soil to effect upward movement of saidstructural liquid and the water with -the .former in flotation on thewater andv to cause same to become a homogeneous part of the soil and toseal oil? the voidssurface thereof to cause the water, when rising, tocarry the oil vertically upwardly through the mass and thus gradually llthe voids in the mass and to seal off the upper surface of the mass torender same impervious to downward penetration of water into the mass.

5. The herein described method of constructing roads comprising dividingthe soil while same is in situ to reduce same to a loose more or lessfinely divided mass, incorporating water in the mass in a quantity toconstitute an. upwardly moving hydrostatic head when down pressure isapplied to the upper surface of the mass, incorporating controlledportions of oil in the mass below the upper surface thereof, thenapplying suceessively increasing condensing pressures to the mass fromthe upper surface thereof to thereby cause the water as it rises tocarry the oil vertically upwardly through the mass and thus gradually llthe voids in the mass and to seal oi the upper surface of the mass torender same im` pervious to downward penetration oflwater into the mass.Y

6. The herein described method of constructing roads comprising dividingthe soil while same is in situ to reduce same to a loose, more or lessnely divided mass', incorporating water in the mass in a quantity toconstitute an upwardly moving hydrostatic head when down pressure isapplied to the upper surface of the mass, incorporating controlledportions of oil in the mass below the upper surface and at differentlevels in the mass, then applying a condensing pressure to the mass fromthe upper surface thereof to cause the water, when rising, to carry theoil vertically upwardly through the mass and thus gradually ll the voidsin the mass and to seal off the upper surface of the mass to render sameimpervious to downward penetration of water into the mass.

HENRY A. INGALLS.

